Drain tile connecter



2224,1226. 2 M R, U A 2,029,920

DRAIN TILE CONNECTER Filed March 17, 19:54 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g 10 i I l i12. 5 21 5 Q V //k/ J .Jiql.

INVENTOR Feb. 4, 1936. v

i M. R. GUTMAN DRAIN TILE CONNECTER Filed March 17, 1954 SheetsSheet 2Patented Feb. 4, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March 1'7,

8 Claims.

My invention relates to connecters for drain tiles and the like, andparticularly to that type of connecter which will serve to align andsupport adjacent ends of tile sections against relative displacement,and prevent dirt from entering between the tile sections and cloggingthe same.

Drain tile of the type referred to is placed in trenches for the purposeof draining fiat or swampy land, and in other instances is connected 10to septic tanks or other sources of sewage for the purpose ofdischarging the waste liquid into the earth over a wide area.

The tile sections or pipe sections are of various cross-sectionalshapes, usually cylindrical, and are commonly of uniform diameterthroughout their length, the sections having no belled ends such asprovided on ordinary sewer tile. The tile sections are assembled withtheir ends in slightly spaced relation to permit exit of water from thego, pipes into the soil, or toadmit water from the soil into the pipe,depending, of course, upon whether the water is being conducted into thesoil or whether the soil is being drained.

The spacing apart of the pipe sections at their ends permits thesurrounding earth to fall into the space and cause clogging of thepipes. Varione means have heretofore been employed for overcoming thisdifiiculty. In some cases, one end of each section is made of half-bellform, which disposed uppermost when laying the pipe, and so placed thatit will partially overlie the unbelled end of an adjacent section, butsuch pipe sections have to be specially made, at greater expense, andare otherwise objectionable. 35 Another scheme has consisted in placinga strip of tar paper over the upper side of the joint, but the paperdeteriorates after a relatively short period of time and permits earthto fall into the tiles.

My invention has for some of its objects the provision of a connecterwhich can be cheaply made; easily installed; will be possessed of longlife, and will permit adequate flow of water into or from the pipesections; and one which will accommodate tile sections of variousdiameters and be firmly retained thereon.

Some of the forms which my invention may take are shown in theaccompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional viewof a portion of a drain tile installation; Fig. 2 is a view taken on theline 11-11 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view showing another type ofconnecter; Fig. 4 is an end View thereof; Fig. 5 shows a modification ofthe connecter of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a longitudinal 55,- sectional Viewshowing still another type of con- 1934, Serial No. 716,118

necter; Fig. 7 is a view taken on the line VIIVII of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is asectional plan view showing another manner of forming tile-spacer tabs,on the connecters; Fig. 9 is an end view of a different type ofconnecter; Fig. 10 is a view taken on the line XX of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 isan end view of another type of connecter; Fig. 12 is a View taken on theline XII-XII of Fig. 11; Fig. 13 shows a modification of the connectersof Figs. 9 and 11, and Fig. 14 is a view taken on the line XIVXIV ofFig. 13.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, broken sections of drain tile of anysuitable form are represented by the numerals B and 9. The sections 8and 9 are, of course, placed with their adjacent ends in slightly spacedrelation, and are encompassed by a connecter III which may be made ofsheet metal that is preferably of non-corrodible material such ascopper. The sheet metal can be oi very light weight, since no greatstrains are imposed upon it, and it will, therefore, not be excessivelyexpensive.

The connecter may be formed of a metal strip which is cut awayintermediate its ends to form a slot 1 I, through which water may flow.In forming the slots, tongues of metal I2 are permitted to remain, andare bent inwardly to form stop shoulders or spacer-tabs for the ends ofthe tile sections 8 and 9, so that said pipe ends can conveniently bepositioned in proper relation to the slot H, and will be held in spacedrelation to one another. For convenience in handling and shipping, theconnecter bands may be shipped in a somewhat flattened condition andbent to conform to the cross-sectional form of the tile sections andjoined at their longitudinal edges in the field. The upper orlongitudinal edges of the band are bent to the form of hooks l3 and M,which are interengaged with one another, in order to hold the band inposition. The connecter band will not only prevent dirt falling throughfrom the upper sides of the pipes, but will serve to holdthe pipesections in longitudinal alignment and against relative radialdisplacement, either vertically or horizontally.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, I show a connecter band l5 which is ofa. form somewhat similar to that of Figs. 1 and 2, but which is adaptedto be used with tile sections of various diameters. The band l5encircles drain tiles I6 and has inturned tongues l1 forming stopshoulders for spacing the tile sections. Elongated attaching straps l8are provided at one end of the band l5. The straps may be formedintegrally with the band by removing the metal intermediate the edges ofthe band, or separate straps may be suitably attached to the band byriveting or otherwise. Adjacent to its other end, the band is providedwith slots l9 spaced along its edges. The straps l8 are passed through apair of slots l9 and bent backwardly to hold the band in position.

By the provision of the elongated straps l8 and the spaced slots 19, theband can be employed with tile sections of various diameters and firmlyheld in position thereon, since it is only necessary for the straps tobe inserted through the proper pair of slots is, to form a connecter ofthe required size for tiles of a given diameter.

In Fig. 5, I provide a connecter 20 that is similar to the connecter IDof Fig. 2, but wherein the ends of the connecter are bent radiallyoutward to form wings 2! through which a clamping bolt 22 extends, thebolt being screwed into a nut 23, so as to draw the ends of the bandtoward one another.

In Figs. 6 and 7, still another form of connecter band is shown. Thisband 2% has its ends slitted to form a slot 25 and tongues 26 and 21.The tongues 26 and 2'! can be soldered or riveted together, if desired,but are here shown as unfastened, and as having contact with one anotheronly by reason of the inherent resiliency of the metal band, so that theends of the band can be sprung apart slightly to permit convenientinsertion of the pipe ends. Stop shoulders 28 are bent up at the ends ofthe slot 25 and function as spacing and aligning members for the pipeends. It will be seen that the band can be sprung sufiiciently toaccommodate tiles of various diameters.

In Fig. 8, I show another manner of forming stop shoulders for spacingthe ends of the tile sections on connecters of any of the typesheretofore described. Adjacent to each end of the drain slot in theconnecter, the metal is suitably punched or cut, so as to form tonguesof metal that are bent inwardly from opposite edges of the slot, forminglaterally-spaced stop shoulders 30. The tongues of metal may be of suchlength that their inner ends can be bent to form hook-shape stops forreceiving the ends of the tile sections.

Referring to Figs. 9 and 10, I provide a metal sheet 3|, preferably ofnon-corrodible material, which may be curved to form a connecter thatonly partially encircles drain tiles 32, and it, therefore, requiresless metal than the connecters that encircle the tiles. Adjacent to itsends, the sheet 3| is cut from its edges inwardly to form tongues 33that are bent inwardly, forming laterally-spaced stop tabs for spacingthe ends of the tiles 32.

The inner ends of the tongues 33, as indicated at 35, are bent intoparallelism with the plane of the sheet, for engaging the innerperipheral wall of the tiles, and serving thereby to hold the bandfirmly in position.

The connecters may be handled in a flat sheetlike condition, since thetongues at the ends thereof need not be bent to form attaching andspacing tabs until the connecters are curved to -conform to thecurvature of the drain tiles and applied thereto. The tiles are slidendwise betweeen the body portion of the connecter 3| and the endportions 36 of the tongues 33, the inherent resiliency of the curvedmetal sheet serving to draw the ends of the tongues into engagement withthe inner wall of the tiles. The connecters are disposed, of course, atthe upper side of the drain tiles, so that entry of dirt and stones intoi the tiles is prevented.

similar to the connecter of Figs. 9 and 10, is employed to protect tilesections 35. Near each end of the metal sheet, slots substantially equalin width to the thickness of the tile sections are formed in the edgesof the sheet, thereby providing bar-like end portions 37 integrallyconnected by webs 38 to the body portion of the sheet.

When the connecter 35 is applied to the tiles 36, the end portions ofthe sheet are bent out of the plane of the sheet along the line ofconnection between the webs 38 and the body portion of the sheet.

With the sheet curved to conform to the curvature of the tiles, the endsof the tiles are slid endwise into the slots in the sheets and intoabutting engagement with the edges of the webs 38, which serve to spacethe ends of the tiles properly. The bar-like end portions 31, of course,yieldably engage the inner walls of the tiles due to the resiliency ofthe curved metal sheet, thereby maintaining the connecter securely inposition.

Figs. 13 and 14 show the application of a sheet metal connecter 40 todrain pipes 41. The connecter is provided with end portions of reducedwidth that are bent to form loops 42 for the reception of U-shapedattaching wires 43, the ends of the wires being bent outwardly forengaging the inner walls of the tiles to secure the connecter inposition. The intermediate bent portions of the wires serve to space theends of the tiles.

It will be understood that certain of the connecters need not be made ofsheet metal, but can be formed of clay, concrete or, other suitablematerial.

I claim as my invention:--

1. A drain pipe connecter for receiving pipe ends, comprising a band ofgenerally amiular form having a peripherally-extending slot over aportion of its circumference, and inwardly-extending stop shouldersadjacent to the ends of said slot.

2. A drain pipe connecter for receiving pipe ends, comprising a band ofgenerally annular form having an opening therethrough at its lower side,a stop shoulder on the inner side of the band, positioned to be engagedby said pipe ends, and means on one end of the band engaging with theother end of the band, for connecting said ends of the band together.

3. A drain pipe connecter for receiving pipe ends, comprising a band ofgenerally annular form having an opening therethrough at its lower side,a stop shoulder on the inner side of the band, positioned to be engagedby said pipe ends, one end of the band having a slot formed therein, andan elongated member on the other end of the band extending through saidslot and being bent backwardly, to secure the ends of the band together.

4. A drain pipe connecter for receiving the ends of alined pipesections, comprising a member encircling the upper side of the ends ofsaid pipe sections and having inwardly-extending spacer means, forengagement by the ends of said sections, and attaching means carried bysaid member and engaging the inner walls of said sections atcircumferentially-spaced points, for maintaining said member inposition.

5. A connecter for receiving the ends of alined pipe sections,comprising a curved sheet metal member having inwardly-extendingportions adjacent to the ends thereof, and of reduced width relative tothe width of said member, positioned to be engaged by pipe ends to spacethe same, said portions having extensions on their inner ends: extendingparallel to the plane of the member and engaging the inner peripheralwall of adjacent pipe sections, for maintaining said member in position.

6. A drain pipe connecter of circular form having aperipherally-extending slot in its lower side and approximately midwaybetween its ends, and seating surfaces on the conneoter, for maintainingdrain pipe ends in spaced relation Within the connecter, and out ofoverlying relation to said slot.

7. A drain pipe connecter for receiving pipe ends, comprising a flexiblestrip, means for hoiding the strip in embracing relationship to twoadjacent pipe ends, the strip being discontinuous at a mid portionthereof so as to leave the lower portions of the pipe ends exposed, anda stop shoulder bent inwardly from the body of the strip and positionedintermediate the edges thereof, for engagement by the adjacent pipeends.

8. A drain pipe connecter for receiving pipe ends, comprising a flexiblestrip, means for holding the strip in embracing relationship to twoadjacent pipe ends, the strip being discontinuous at a mid portionthereof so as: to leave the lower portions of the pipe ends exposed, anda pair of stop shoulders bent inwardly from the body of the strip, atpoints above the said exposed portions: of the pipe ends, and positionedto be engaged by the pipe ends.

MAURICE R. GUTMAN.

